Promenade – Phase I Update
Here is some great news – the Dublin Planning Commission had a study session on Tuesday night (10/14/08) to review the current proposal for the eagerly-anticipated Phase I of the Promenade (located in the Dublin Ranch Villages). Phase 1 is expected to have a Central California “vintage Main Street” theme with a bit over 100,000 sq. ft. comprised of the following three buildings:
ClubSport Athletic Club and Spa – a two-story building of 47,669 sq. ft. on the southwest corner of Dublin Blvd. and Grafton Street that will be a “full-service private fitness center, spa, and recreation facility with a fitness area, group exercise rooms, pool, spa, aerobics rooms, spa treatment rooms, offices, locker rooms, and a cafe. Administrative and a child care area will also be included.”
Mercantile Building – a three-story building of 52,716 sq. ft. located to the north of the ClubSport building. This building will likely have 18,000 sq. ft. of retail and restaurants on the ground floor with office space on the second and third floors. The look of the Mercantile Building (picture above) is expected to be similar to “older mercantile building found in urban centers throughout the country and in smaller California towns.”
Parking Structure – Phase I is currently planned to have 407 spaces of parking in an above-ground four-level parking structure that will butt up against building 8 of the Terraces (there will also be 70 surface/street parking spaces). The preliminary drawings indicate that this parking structure will look like “an old warehouse that would be found adjacent to an urban core of older mercantile buildings.”
Tuesday’s night’s meeting focused mainly on the architecture of the ClubSport building – specifically the Dublin Blvd. side of the integral anchor building. There were really four different preferences expressed by the Planning Commission.
- Wood-like fencing affixed to the building.
- Opaque windows along the side of the building.
- 1/2 wood-like material and 1/2 opaque windows along the side of the building.
- Something different than what was presented.
Based on the feedback provided by the Planning Commission at this study session, the Planning Department will continue to work with the developer (Charter Properties) to enhance the design for Phase I of the Promenade. The Around Dublin Team was thoroughly impressed with the preliminary designs of these three buildings and are certain that we will have a magnificent beginning to what will be a premier dining, retail, and leisure destination.
Please check back for more details regarding Phase I of the Promenade.
9:16 AM on October 16th, 2008
Is there any kind of timeline on the start once everything is approved?
11:17 AM on October 16th, 2008
Any idea if Club Sport will let members transfer their memberships or use both clubs? With $1500 initiation fees, it would be very disappointing if they didn’t.
11:25 AM on October 16th, 2008
Leisure Sports will own and operate its new fitness club, which has yet to be named. The new club will be a sister club of ClubSport Pleasanton, a facility that has been keeping the community fit for over 25 years. ClubSport is a brand that Tri-Valley residents recognize and count on. Members of the new club will enjoy reciprocal privileges at ClubSport and Renaissance ClubSport properties, expanding their fitness options to include tennis, basketball and other sports available at the larger Leisure Sports owned facilities.
(from the link, which goes to previous story about the ClubSport development)..
12:12 PM on October 16th, 2008
I don’t live in the Terraces, but is there any concern for the residents based on the FOUR story parking garage? If this is to “butt” up against the building, won’t people be unhappy? I don’t remember any such large buildings ever discussed when we were considering buying a couple of years back. Also, are there any additional garages planned for that area? I’m hoping not.
12:27 PM on October 16th, 2008
I don’t think anyone lives at in that building at the Terraces, so I doubt there will be anyone representing those future home owners. By the time Toll Brothers is ready to release that building, people who buy will know they will be right next to a parking structure. It would be nice if they can have some underground parking though. I don’t think you can ever plan enough parking, given the underplanning at Dublin Ranch Villages.
12:55 PM on October 16th, 2008
One buys a condo one expects to live in an urban environment. Staring out into a wall is common, also as the last comment above indicates that any new buyers for those vacant units will know upfront what is being proposed next door. Nothing wrong with parking garages as long as it is not a bulky and ugly like the Eastern Dublin BART Garage. Looking at the drawings of this garage it is quite attractive for a garage. Would you rather have garages or a sea of asphalt parking in between buildings. A la downtown Fremont or Tracy? You’d have to drive from store to store and yes there will be insufficient surface area to have the amount of parking needed without a structure. The overall square footage of the Promenade would have to be cut in halve, making it less attractive to potential retailers.
Also the Promenade is suppose to be a main street experience, pedestrian oriented. A sea of asphalt parking is the anti main street concept.
1:05 PM on October 16th, 2008
There is quite a distance between the terraces and the parking structure. From the drawings it looks as though they are doing a pretty good of hiding the fact that it is a garage. Also, I don’t see a difference between looking at the garage from the Terraces and looking out the back of some of the cottages or villas. Those places look out onto other peoples garages and alley ways. I too agree that as long as Toll tells the people buying those untis what will be next door, then people can make their own decsions.
2:57 PM on October 16th, 2008
Yes it looks like they did do a good job with the Garage. If you look at the Staff report you can see the screening of the Garage. Also on the top deck drivers cannot see into any of the Condo units as there is a high enough screen to block the view. That is much better than having another Condo building of same size next door where people are looking into your living room. I’d rather see a wall then someone else’s living room. The benefits of living in a high density condo development is to be able to go downstairs and shop, eat and play without getting into a car. What you give up is a view of green grass and trees. Like it or not it is what you will get in Dublin as more of the same is coming, high density housing.
If they want vies of a yard with green grass and trees they’d have to move to another town as we aren’t building many of those here in Dublin.
6:19 PM on October 18th, 2008
John, did you go to the grafton plaza event today? Anything interesting?
10:16 PM on October 18th, 2008
Hi Anonymous – today’s Grafton Plaza site tour was informative and turned out to be quite a social event. I’ll be posting a quick
summary. It was great to see Charter host an event to solicit resident feedback and share the Grafton Plaza concept. It would be wonderful for other developers to use the same approach in working with the
community.
Thx, John Z.
12:26 AM on October 19th, 2008
Well maybe Charter can get the community involved also for Wallis Ranch. Medium and High Density at Wallis Ranch has got to go. Swap it with the units they want to build at Grafton Plaza and they have my vote/support. There will be a drive to put Wallis Ranch up for a Citywide vote if they don’t scrap their vision of any Medium or High Density there. The Lin Family has made a fortune in Dublin Ranch. It is time for them the give back a bit to the community, give us a signature low density housing project that the Citizens can be proud of. Much like the 55 estate homes they are building in the hills of Pleasanton. Why not here at Wallis Ranch?
10:09 AM on October 19th, 2008
Hopefully 407 parking spaces will be enough, not sure how they plan to control for residents of the Villas using it as overflow parking!